Friday, July 27, 2012

This is the day of the week where we get to know each other better by
answering a question devised by our lovely hostesses Parajunkee &
Alisoncanread. We also gain new followers by joining each other's sites
via GFC, so please let me know if you're a new follower. And now for this week's question....

Q. Summer Reading. What was your favorite book that you were required to read when you were in school?

A. For me it was Mythology by Edith Hamilton and The Odyssey by Homer. I really loved these books in Advanced English class my senior year in high school. I think this is what started me loving fantasy so much!! I love to read about all the Gods and sometimes think how cool it must've been to have several Gods who represented different things (love, war, wisdom).

I also really loved the Disney movie Hercules. I just love how it mixes all the gods and the cartoon makes them teens. Oh and I REALLY love the God of War games. These are fantastic... and the mythology in the cut scenes is excellent.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

I just read another scary blog post today. I keep reading about all these things happening on goodreads and in the blogging world that it makes me question my safety. Hippies, Beauty and Books posted this really informative post on how to try to keep yourself safe go here to read protecting yourself from internet preditors. . There is a new site out there trying to stop negative reviews and apparently goodreads is now going through our reviews and hiding any of the ones that mention authors!! Go here to read about members discovering this!

This whole thing is terrible... and if you go hereyou can read about bloggers being sued for using pictures on their pages! So sad!!

Perfume that smells like a book??? Yes please! It seems like it is only sold in the UK but I bet it comes to the US soon!! Here is a website to order the perfume from... it's called Paper Passion.

From the website:
“The smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world.”
Karl Lagerfeld
This tells the story of a passion and a
twisting plot to put the particular bouquet of freshly printed books in a
bottle. Gerhard Steidl was first alerted to the importance of the smell
of a book by Karl Lagerfeld, prompting a passion for paper and the
composition of a scent on the pages of a book. To Wallpaper* magazine
the pairing of the publisher with the perfumer seemed a natural
partnership and so the idea for Paper Passion was born. Wallpaper*
magazine commissioned master perfumer Geza Schoen to create a fragrance
based on the smell of books to be part of the Wallpaper* magazine
Handmade exhibition in Milan.
This is an opportunity to celebrate
all the gloriosensuality of books, at a time when many in the industry
are turning against them. The idea is that is should relax you, like
when you read a book, to a level of meditation and concentration. Paper
Passion has evolved into something quite beautiful and unique. To wear
the smell of a book is something very chic. Books are players in the
intellectual world, but also in the world of luxury.
Hidden inside
the pages of a book, Paper Passion is accompanied by texts from Karl
Lagerfeld, Günter Grass, Geza Schoen and Tony Chambers.
“You have a
book, you open it, there’s a bottle inside and it smells of a book. It
might be quirky, but the idea has a simplicity, a linearity.”
Geza Schoen

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

I really really love the show My Cat From Hell on TV. I just love how he looks and how he acts with cats. And the fact that he is genuinely interested in helping cats and their owners. Too many people get rid of cats because they just don't feel like dealing with them. And there are such simple things to do to fix a relationship with a cat. Though we must be willing to sacrifice. Here is the goodreads description of the book:

Jackson Galaxy, cat behaviorist and star of Animal Planet’s "My Cat from Hell" shares his own tale of how he came to be known as “Cat Daddy,” focusing on his 13-year long relationship with an incredible cat named Benny. When Benny arrived in his life, Galaxy was a down-and-out rock musician, little more than a drug addiction and a part-time job working in an animal shelter. When Benny’s previous owner handed him to Galaxy in a cardboard carrier, Benny's pelvis had just been shattered by the wheels of a car—and the woman declared that he’d been “un-bondable” from day one.
CAT DADDY is a poignant account of two broken beings who fixed each other, this memoir/cat care book also includes a wealth of advice on living with and caring for your own special felines.

The book focuses on who this guy is??? I mean how does a guy who looks like Jackson become and advocate for cats?I am totally with him too when it comes to spaying and neutering your pets. There are millions and millions of pets. Do we really need anymore? Do people really need to make that $1000 off another litter of animals. So sad. Please Please read this book if you are thinking about getting a pet ESPECIALLY a cat. I just dished out almost $1500 on my cat in 2 weeks. He is healthy and 100% better... are you willing to do this? Also watch the show if you are lost and don't know what to do with you cat. It might just keep that cat in it's forever home.

Monday, July 23, 2012

I just read this amazing post on copyright pictures that might accidentally post. Roni Loren talks about in this articlehere .. believe me it is eye opening. Of course as usual the comments are sometimes rude so she had to close the comments. But I was surprised to learn a few things, like

It DOESN'T MATTER...

if you link back to the source and list the photographer's name

if the picture is not full-sized (only thumbnail size is okay)

if you did it innocently

if your site is non-commercial and you made no money from the use of the photo

if you didn't claim the photo was yours

if you've added commentary in addition to having the pic in the post

if the picture is embedded and not saved on your server

if you have a disclaimer on your site.

if you immediately take down a pic if someone sends you a DMCA notice (you do have to take it down, but it doesn't absolve you.)

I copied that from her website so hopefully I gave her full credit. Again here is the blog post so check it out!

I had planned on reading this book at sometime, then at San Diego Comic Con I saw Leigh Bardugo signing books and hadn't bought myself anything yet at the con so I bought this book! And loved it. Here is the goodreads description:

Alina Starkov doesn’t expect much from life. Orphaned by the Border Wars, the one thing she could rely on was her best friend and fellow refugee, Mal. And lately not even that seems certain. Drafted into the army of their war-torn homeland, they’re sent on a dangerous mission into the Fold, a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh.
When their convoy is attacked, all seems lost until Alina reveals a dormant power that not even she knew existed. Ripped from everything she knows, she is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. He believes she is the answer the people have been waiting for: the one person with the power to destroy the Fold.
Swept up in a world of luxury and illusion, envied as the Darkling’s favorite, Alina struggles to fit into her new life without Mal by her side. But as the threat to the kingdom mounts, Alina uncovers a secret that sets her on a collision course with the most powerful forces in the kingdom. Now only her past can save her . . . and only she can save the future.

This book is amazing!! I just love it!! It is the Epic fantasy I have been looking for. Reminds me a lot of Graceling! I also received a map, book mark and some nail polish!! Which is great! (I will be including extra ones in with my giveaway on the 27th). I really liked everything about this book.. the romance, adventure, mystery, magic!! I just love it all. I have to wait sooo long for the next books. Here is a picture of Ms. Bardugo. Yes I am not in the pictures. To be honest I forgot to ask her to take one with me and then when I went back the comic con floor was crazy again. Sigh... that floor was always packed!

The map in the book is beautiful too:

And this is great too!

Edit... OK I finally took pictures of the swag I got from Comic Con so here are the pics. I got some really pretty grey nail polish too. I was going to post of pic of my toe nails painted in that color BUT my feed are ugly so you will just have to look at the bottle :

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Well Comic Con has come and gone. It was quite an experience. It was a lot of fun but man it was non-stop. Going from the time I woke up till the time I went to sleep. It is so easy to get caught up and spend all your time in Hall H. Which is the hall where all the big shows happen. I spend most of my first two days in Hall H and then the last day I wondered off on my own while others stayed in Hall H for the day. I certainly didn't get as much free swag as I thought I was going to get. Here are some pictures from my adventurous trip!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

I read this book because it was the book club pick for my Young Adult Book Cluband am so glad that it was picked!! Here is the goodreads description:

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart

Finished this book while at Comic Con. And I have to say WOW!! Personally I thought this book was amazing. I was very surprised at it. I don't read a lot of historical fiction so I was quite surprised at how good it is.

SPOILERS to come!! I only teared up at one part... when the mother died.
I really did think that was sad. Ok.. and also when Andrius and Lina
had to separate. That was actually really sad.
It makes me sad to think that no one paid attention to the people of Lithuania. I didn't know what to think about the part when the American Ship appeared. I think maybe someone should've run out as soon as they new the Americans were off the ship. I guess everyone was just so afraid.

The characters in this book are amazing and have sooo much depth. The bald man... who seemed so bitter. Ona and her baby which had such an impact on me. Lina's brother Jonas who grew up so fast in the novel, her mother Elena who inspired me to try harder to be kinder to people, Mrs. Arvydas who's choices were so hard to comprehend, the grouchy woman and her children, Kretzsky who knew that everything he was doing was wrong and was just stuck in a life he didn't want to be in, the man who always turned the dial on his watch, Lina's father and cousin, who am I forgetting?? The two ladies and I can't remember their names. One was a teacher.
These characters all were written is a fabulous way. I felt like I knew each one of them!

I just wish I could've seen Lina's art in the book. I think that would've made the story more amazing!!! Though the descriptions used help my imagination picture the art perfectly in my head. I was shocked to read that the suffering of these people wasn't revealed until 1990~!! WHAT? ? ?? That is nuts to me.
I found it very sad when they found out about their dad. That was the one bit of hope they always had in the back of their minds. I believe anyone in a hopeless situation needs something to hold onto even if deep inside they know it is not try and not actually going to happen. The mother keeping clean clothes in her luggage proved that hope kept her strong and kept her going. I think when she found out her husband had died she finally saw how hopeless the situation was. The clean clothes was very sad to read about.
I didn't understand why they were taken to the arctic? What was the point of that? Just so they would die?

I didn't love the ending. I read through 300 pages and then all of a sudden the book stopped. The sun poked out, we find out Lina lives and marries and that is that. I REALLY felt let down by the end. I really was invested in all the characters and wanted to see how their story ended. Meaning I wish I could've seen how they eventually get out of camp. I felt completely let down by the end.

I recently went to the Holocaust museum in Washington DC and it was done very well. There is a room you walk though that has 1000s of shoes. Dirty old shoes that were found in the concentration camps. They shoes were discarded because they weren't worth anything to the Nazi's. Hair was sold, clothes were sold.. but shoes were worth nothing to the Nazi's. It was so overwhelming. If anyone here goes to DC go to this museum!

As far as the age group for this book I think it is for sure YA. I think in England it is sold as an adult book. People have issues with the sex that Mrs. Arvydas has with the guards.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

When literature student Anastasia Steele is drafted to interview the successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey for her campus magazine, she finds him attractive, enigmatic and intimidating. Convinced their meeting went badly, she tries to put Grey out of her mind - until he happens to turn up at the out-of-town hardware store where she works part-time.
The unworldly, innocent Ana is shocked to realize she wants this man, and when he warns her to keep her distance it only makes her more desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her - but on his own terms.
Shocked yet thrilled by Grey's singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving adoptive family – Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the couple embarks on a passionate, physical and daring affair, Ana learns more about her own dark desires, as well as the Christian Grey hidden away from public scrutiny.
Can their relationship transcend physical passion? Will Ana find it in herself to submit to the self-indulgent Master? And if she does, will she still love what she finds?
Erotic, amusing, and deeply moving, the Fifty Shades Trilogy is a tale that will obsess you, possess you, and stay with you forever.

WHAT
IN THE??? I am going to be the oddball here among my friends but this
book was not that great to me. There I said it. It has nothing to do
with the sex... believe me I am not shocked by it. It just some of this
story was ridiculous. Once I got to the end of the book... it actually
became good!! I probably shouldn't have read this book to begin with
since I don't like romance novels so what made me think I was going to
like an erotic novel? ?? ? ?? ? ?

It is totally another twilight and if you need evidence of this go here: http://dearauthor.com/features/indust... And I am here at Comic Con right now and can't even figure out why E L James is here... oh hummm cause Twilight is here and it's Twilight fan fiction? I read the author is now saying it's not even though it was originally posted on a Twilight fan fiction site?

Some of the following may not be appropriate if you are under 18. It's isn't going to be graphic but I just want to warn you:I
have a lot of problems with this book... a virgin becomes a sex god
over night? Mr. Grey continuously ejaculates 3-4 times a day??? This guy
abuses Ana... he stalks her like a straight PSYCHO, he hits her and
then he is allowed to for his therapy. PLEASE. The tampon scene was
nuts.

I just can't figure out why soooo many people love this book??? AND
one of my biggest issues is we spend the WHOLE book talking about
signing some sort of sex contract. Just sign it already. Personally I
think there was too many sex scenes. Like I said above at the end of
the book when a story finally got going and there wasn't as many stupid
sex scenes it started to get decent. And the food issues in this
book... eat eat eat. UGHHH with the eating!!!

Well I will
confess that I will wikipedia the other books to see what happens. But I
just can't take reading sex sex sex sex sex sex sex sex sex sex sex sex
sex sex sex sex again!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Have you seen the new pictures released from the Hobbit movie? Well here they are... plus the poster they are giving out at Comic Con San Diego. Which I PLAN on attending that panel and snagging this poster!! I know we will probably have to wait in a long line to see this panel. The only thing that sucks about that is while waiting in line we'll miss a lot of other cool panels. Oh the choices I have to make!!
Here is the poster:

And here are the images from Entertainment Weekly magazine. Which is a magazine I subscribe to, that usually delivers the magazine every Friday but every now and then the post office likes to be late with it so I am still waiting for my copy this weekend!!